Natural cheese package



April 14, 1953 I E. E. ELDREDGE 2,635,049

NATURAL CHEESE PACKAGE Filed June 27, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Mag 4 Zmventor [4/751 E. [lo/Q5065 (Ittorneg E. E. ELDREDGE NATURAL CHEESE PACKAGE April 14, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 27, 1950 51 fif/ f. zip/Q5065 attorney April 4, 1953 E. E. ELDRED'GE 2,635,049

NATURAL CHEESE PACKAGE Filed June 27, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet I5 Ihwentor Gttomeg Patented Apr. 14, 1953 r;

Eimemn rmareage; Plymouth, Wis assignon-rto- ThmBordemGompan'y; NewzflorkrNkY aromas: poratinnmfiNewJersey Applicati im Jimez27, 1950',-'S'rifiIINo: 1370,663

2 'GIaims; (01.: 219-478):

desideratum; in the: packaging of cheese,

- especially unprocessed cheeses-or cheesei'n its natural? stateais to prevent molding and the formatio'neo'f rind. This-necessitates the effective exclusionziof air' from": the wrapped cheese and natural cheese t-presents an" especial problem" in thiszregard-rsince gasesvfo'rmed in: the aging-processamust be. allowed to escape.

V Thermerera-wrappingr:of the1- cheese? invfilms which are impervious to air. at atmospheric-pros suresis not: aicompletesolution' and the purpose of: this inventionris: to provide a wrapper which effectivelyseals: the cheese from.- the: outside air.

This invention is: :based 1 upon the observation that'-sin-"-spite of:the):impervious character of a wrapper; air 'enters'theipackage through the folds of the wrapper; Where-athe 'film ledges overlap smoothlyaand: 8.136.111 tcontact air' doestnot get in, butxitt has.: beenzz.found that-ingress of 'the aii' occurswherexthere are1fo1ds=:in:the;film, at the openizendsr ofzifthe wrapper; forexample; where the filmis folded; down against the cheese to'close the ends-zandccomplete the package".-

- This is'dueitmthefact that when: thexmateri'al isestolded. backs. on: itself; the? reverse? bond is usuallymottsharpienoughito avoid'the existence ofiszarslightsinternab spacesalongrthei-rline ot'ff'old which constitutesan; airxpocketfonpassager'which issuhstantial under the:-circumstancesand-allows air toJeakintathe package-and :afiectithecheese: Inaaccordance with :thissinventiomr that con ditiom is counteracted .-by; introdueingfa: suitableoillbetween. therlayerscofathe folds Itist found that; dueetoi the iminlitenessaiofi the-"spaces? in? valved; the' oilz will: by-icapillarity" come: to' occupy the .creV-ices and creasesrresulting from'the folds and seat the potential; passages? for the air which have heretofore existed-.-irr 'suchr-wrapp r sr.

To: secure this :efiect thei -film or'ffoihtmusti be ollaproofg; that israthe :oili must? notirentera'sub- 'stantially into the .fiher. Ofidrf permeateuthe mm butxmustn emainuponrxthe surface, and: the: oil must be free flowing throughout the ranges of temperaturerat whichrzcheeses are wrappe'd and stored; Y

The inventionzrwillr be better' runderstood from" at more; detailedidescription :in connection with the -accompanying drawings in: which i Fig.3; being aperspectivepartially imsectionron larger scaleicof the. same sheet, folded raga-in, .on thelcent'ral' vertical axis;

Fig: 4; is acperspectiverof a; blockroflcheesez: in position. on.:a1 sheetrof. wrapping-material; with oil preliminarily applied on the longitudinallmarginalportions of the upper" surface.-

Figs. 5, 6,' 7 and 8 are perspectivewviews:showinggthe cheese and;wrapper* of Fig-.4 in. successive stages-01! rwrapping Figs. 6,; '7" and: 8 'being: oma scale somewhat larger than Figs." 4 :and; 5..

Thereiare various suitable foils; --0r.- films for the wrapping among whichisvinylidene' chloride polymer; a thermoplastic material of the vinyl grouptsold under the trade name of vSaran-. It is. a transparent, light weight; moisture proof film: which iscsubstantiallyy impervious (to gases at atmospheric pressures and which is; non"- absorptive of' oils. Various oilsare suitable-for the purpose, among, them mineral .oils suchaas paraffin. oil.

Theprinciple. upon which; the invention; de-

' pends. islillustratedin Figs. 1, ZlandB; A-sheet rFigs'wl, 2 and53 'are perspective views of a sheet j :over once:alongits central longitudinalaxis'; and

' in successive stagesxoti: folding to illustrate-the I0 of. oil-proof; material;such .as. .Sarani' aboye identified, hasla .-.film..ofloil. ii applied thereon, for instance merely along its lower edge. I-tlis then .folded double along. its middle longitudinal line, the two faces beingj brought together with the oil between them}. as. shown inlFig. 2. v This fold leaves anair pocket or passage. Malone the line offold, the. thickness otthe material' and the size of the pocket; l2" bang exaggerated" in the drawin'g ior' the sake of illustration. The oil howevertravels up by capillary attraction and occupies the entire space'betweenzthe two layers of 'the fold-including the pocketor" passage [2.

This oil in the passage IZ actsxas a-tramv or seal against the transmission of'airztherethrough Any defect in or insufficiency ofythe" seal is remedied by putting a transverse fold in the crease which forms thepassage. Thisis done by folding" the sheet a second time alfong'a line acrossthe first line of fold: This is illustrated in Fig; 3'; thesecond fold there beingj'at' right angles" to thefi'rst' fold." a a As shown in the View where the corner-51s broken away, theoil H hasicrept" up and filled "heentire-space between the contacting'faces I sthep sa e and thesecond fold puts a in the passage-1? and-so effects a com; plete seal" against: gases at 'atmospheric' pres A- sheet ill-of suitable oil-proof material; such as Saran, has a freely flowing oil, such as mineral oil, applied in a film I l on one face along the two longitudinal edges, which are the edges on the ends to be folded. A block of cheese I5 is properly disposed on the oil-bearing face of the wrapper, as shown in Fig. 4, and the sheet is wrapped onto the cheese, as shown in Figs. 5 to 8, inclusive. The folding operation proceeds in the usual manner, the ends of the sheet first being brought up and overlapped on topof the block of cheese and the open ends of the wrapper then being folded against the end faces of the cheese. If desired the end folds may be secured down, as by pressure sensitive adhesive tape. In order better to illustrate the invention the order of the wrapping steps is shown in the drawings somewhat different from that above recited, and will be described as illustrated.

inner layers 34 and 34a of the triangular folds.

The lines of fold and 32 meet at a point as do the lines of fold 28 and 33. Thus there are formed two triangular flaps designated generally by the numerals 35 and 3B. To complete the wrappingon that end the flaps are turned down against the end of the package about the 3 lines 23 and 30, respectively, as shown in Fig. 8

First, as shown in Fig. 5, the far end of the sheet is brought up on the top of the cheese, the proportions of the'sheet being such that the far edge I B is disposed on the near side of the middle line of the top face of the cheese. This brings the oil films I! on the inner face of the rear vertical section I! and the top horizontal section 18 of the partially wrapped sheet. Then, as shown, the portion I9 of the horizontal section that extends beyond the right end face of the cheese block as viewed in Fig. 5 is folded down against that end face. This causes the extending portion of the rear vertical section I! to fold inwardly on itself along the oblique line 20, forming aright triangular inner layer 2! and an outer layer 22 which also includes a right triangular portion opposing the layer 2 l. The inner layer joins the turned down portion IQ of the horizontal section at a vertical line of fold 23. As is seen, the oil H is on the inner faces of the portion 19 and of the inner layer 2| and on the inner face of the outer layer 22, as shown in the broken-away portion of the layer 2!, and the oil overlaps for a portion of the area inside the triangular fold. The oil on the inner face of the portion l9 contacts the cheese and has no sealing function. However it is not deleterious and does no harm.

Next the near end of the sheet is brought up over the top of the block of cheese overlapping the first end andconcealing the edge I B, the edge 24 of the overlapping end being disposed between the middle line and back edge of the top face of the cheese. I This formsa near side vertical section 25 and an overlapping horizontal section 26 of the wrapper.

The extending portion 21 of the horizontal overlapping'section 26 is turned down against the end face of the cheese. This causes the extending portion of the front vertical section 25 to fold inwardly on itself along the oblique line 28, forming a triangular inner layer (not shown) corresponding to the layer 2|, and an outer layer 29 corresponding to the layer 22. The .inner layer joins the turned down portion 21' at a vertical line of fold 3D. The oil is on the contacting inner faces of the triangular fold, as indicated in the broken-away portion of the outer layer 29, and is also on the inner face of the turned down portion 21 which is partially in contact with the cheese and partially overlaps the portion I79.

Next the extending bottom horizontal section 3| of the wrapper is turned up against the end face of the cheese. This causes the outer layer 22 to fold inwardly upon itself along the oblique line 32 and similarly causes the outer layer 29 and, as above stated, may be secured down by adhesive tape if desired.

The opposite end of the package is closed in the same way, being shown-unfolded in Fig. 7 and folded in Fig. 8.

The presence of the oil is indicated by stip-' pling. It is the oil which is within the folded flaps 35 and 33 which is effective in sealing the air pockets or passages in the creases. The oil disposed on the inner faces of the overlaps l9, 2'! and 3! is without essential sealing function and, except for the difficulty of selective application of the oil, could be eliminated.

It has been found that the internal creases formed by the folds along the lines'2il, 32, 28 and 33 form air' pockets or passages similar to the passages i2 and that when unimpeded, air enters through those passages and forms a conveyance for mold spores and causes molding and surface oxidation and formation of rind on the cheese.

Due to the close contact of the faces of the component layers of the flaps 35 and 36, the oil within the folds spreads by capillary attraction and comes to occupy the entire inner areas of the flaps and to fill the air pockets along the creases 20 and 28. Finally thefolding over of these creases along the lines 32 and 33 puts a kink in the creases at the'apices x as was done with. the passage l2 in the second foldof Fig. 3.

The conditions described with respectto the right end of the package as shown in the drawings are of course reproduced on the opposite end. It will be understood'that the gases which form within the wrapping from the aging process of the cheese develop suflicient pressure to effect their escape. To some extent these gases pass through the wrapper itself, depending upon the degree of internal pressure, although such films as Saran are virtually impervious to air at atmospheric pressures. Moreover the fact that there is a superior internal pressure in the package assures the imperviousness of the wrapping to air. This also applies to the potential vents formed by the overlaps through which the internal gases may find their escape while air'is effectively excluded.

It will be understood that the principle of the invention is independent of the precise plastic used for the wrapper and of the precise oil used,

along its two edge portions, the ends of the wrapper being folded over the block of cheese in overlapping relation and the oil-bearing sides of the wrapper being each folded against its respective end of the block of cheese and closing the package, the creases formed by said end folding which open at one end to the atmosphere and at the other end to the interior of the package being filled with said oil.

2. A cheese package as defined in claim 1 in which said creases are folded upon themselves.

ELMER E. ELDREDGE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Number Number Name Date Lewton Aug. 24, 1926 Kiefer Apr. 21, 1931 Craemer June 14, 1938 Loane Feb. 25, 1941 McGillicuddy Apr. 17, 1945 Snyder Aug. 21, 1945 Cowen June 25, 1946 Andrews Apr. 19, 1949 Eldredge Feb. 6, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain of 1907 

1. A CHEESE PACKAGE COMPRISING A BLOCK OF CHEESE ENCLOSED IN AN OIL-PROOF WRAPPER WHICH WRAPPER IS IMPERVIOUS TO MOISTURE AND GASES AND HAS FREE-FLOWING OIL ON ITS INNER FACES AT LEAST ALONG ITS TWO EDGE PORTIONS, THE END OF THE WRAPPER BEING FOLDED OVER THE BLOCK OF CHEESE IN OVERLAPPING RELATION AND THE OIL-BEARING SIDES OF THE WRAPPER BEING EACH FOLDED AGAINST ITS RESPECTIVE END OF THE BLOCK OF CHEESE AND CLOSING THE PACKAGE, THE CREASES FORMED BY SAID END FOLDING WHICH OPEN AT ONE END TO THE ATMOSPHERE AND AT THE OTHER END TO THE INTERIOR OF THE PACKAGE BEING FILLED WITH OIL. 